I have my disagreements with many of the archaic teachings of the Church but you must admire it's consistent guts to take the bull by its horns and say it as it is. The recent missive by the Bishop of Gandhinagar, advising his flock to elect humane leaders who swear by the Constitution was a genuine beauty and eloquently spoke every sensible Indian (not just Catholic ) mind. To see the BJP frothing at this innocuous appeal with all their motor mouths led by the questionable Arnab Goswami and baying for the bishops head if not larynx, is despicable to say the least. Do the BJP trolls by attacking the Bishop admit they have no one humane who adheres to the Constitution in their electoral ranks? Truly strange! The bone of contention seems to be the misguided statement, "vote against nationalist forces" that seems to have the BJP goat. It should have cleverly been rephrased as "anti national" forces. Because by any logical deduction, lynchings of Muslim cattle traders is anti national, putting a bounty on film stars is anti national, giving televised hate speeches and gunning for communities is anti national, assassinating dissidents is anti national, not allowing any dissent or questioning of government without raids and FIRs is anti democratic and anti national.
All this has reached fever pitch over the last few years. And this is what the aam aadmi has been protesting about. The BJP must realise that nationalism is not just about flag, anthem and land. That of course is sacrosanct and must necessarily be respected, even revered. Nationalism is about love and compassion and fellowship of all human beings. Nationalism is more about people than mere real estate. On this count of spreading love and compassion the BJP has been a spectacular failure. Maybe the Church was alluding to this.
Oscar Rebelo, via email
